Obama Wants to Control Commercial Use of His Image

I was going to do a separate post about this, but Taegan beat me. I hadn't been to my round the corner Kroger since about a week before the inauguration, and it literally looks like an Obama merchandising truck EXPLODED in it. Hats, t-shirts, buttons, books, videos, posters, water bottles... any damn thing you can think of, they put Obama's face on it.

White House lawyers "want to control the use of the president's image," according to Bloomberg, "recognizing the worldwide fascination about Obama's election, First Amendment free-speech rights and easy access to videos and photos on the Web."

Said a spokesman: "Our lawyers are working on developing a policy that will protect the presidential image while being careful not to squelch the overwhelming enthusiasm that the public has for the president."

Beanie Babies maker sells Sasha, Malia dolls

Just the first of many to come I'd guess. Hopefully they won't make any Bratz style ones.....

CHICAGO – The company that made Beanie Babies a top toy craze is hoping for another winner with dolls named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia."

Now where have we heard those names before?

Ty Inc. has released the 12-inch plush dolls as part of the company's "TyGirlz Collection," introduced in 2007. The Sasha doll has pigtails and wears a white and pink dress with hearts. The Malia doll has a side ponytail and a long-sleeve shirt with capri pants.

The Oak Brook-based company chose the dolls' names because "they are beautiful names," not because of any resemblance to President Obama's daughters, said spokeswoman Tania Lundeen.

"There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls," Lundeen said. "It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."

Um, sure.